Firegold [Paperback]

Everyone in the Valley has brown eyes--except 13-year-old Jonathon. Ugly rumors about Jonathon's beautiful red-haired mother are surfacing among the self-righteous Valley folk, as are whispers about her son. He's beginning to worry that he's a "loony-blue," one of the blue-eyed, red-headed Dalriada--the much-feared mountain people who have magnificent horses, mystical powers, and horns growing out of their foreheads. After his mother's sudden death, the whispers grow to angry threats, and Jonathon escapes the Valley and goes in search of his heritage, his manhood, and his true love. In the mountains he experiences a mystical rite of passage that takes him to the Dalriada encampments, through caves echoing with his own spirit voices, to the very top of the world. From the mountain peak he carries back one of the legendary Firegold apples--a gift that brings reconciliation with his father and his rightful home among the Valley people.

Fantasy lovers will enjoy the vivid images and original ideas of this shimmering tale, with layers of philosophy about bigotry, narrow-mindedness, and true identity adding emotional depth. This complex, imaginative first novel bodes well for future titles by Dia Calhoun. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Grade 6-9The girl is hiding behind a large boulder across the river when Jonathon Brae first spots her. Her cap seems to have little horns, her hair is flaming red streaked with gold, and her eyes peer at Jonathon with the same blue sparkle that his have. Then, in an instant, she disappears. Jonathon is terrified. A Dalriada! What is a barbarian doing so far from the Red Mountains? Are they raiding the Valley? He runs home to his loving parents, brown-eyed like the rest of the Valley people, and steps into the middle of an argument. His mother wants his father to wait until Jonathon is 14 to take him to the Red Mountains to hunt; Brian thinks that 12 is old enough, but he leaves without the boy. When he returns, Karena is incensed at the gift he has brought for his son: a black colt with gold streaks in his mane and tail, Rhohar or king of the Dalriadas horse clans. The arrival of this animal changes everything in Jonathons life as he strives to understand what it is about the colt and the Red Mountains that calls to him, why dark ridges have appeared on his forehead, and if he is going crazy as the Valley folk claim. In an all-consuming search for identity, Jonathon sets forth to face any obstacle to become whole. In the tradition of Robin McKinleys The Blue Sword (Greenwillow, 1982) and Lloyd Alexanders Prydain Chronicles, Jonathons quest evokes a timeless struggle for identity amid vivid imagery, heartbreaking loss, and a subtle weave of fantasy.Melanie C. Duncan, Washington Memorial Library, Macon, GA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

*(Starred Review) The brown-eyed valley folk both fear and loathe 13-year-old Jonathon Brae; he is a "loony-blue," and everyone knows blue eyes are an abomination and will drive a boy insane when he reaches adulthood. Jonathon is sure the process has begun early. His head aches. His mind is filled with a compelling, dizzying drumming. He is driven to leave his beloved parents and the peace of the orchards to explore the ominous Red Mountains, home to the Dalriadas, fearsome barbarians. If that weren't enough, Jonathon is plagued by peculiar raised welts on his forehead that grow larger and itch more with each passing day. When the "loony-blue" is accused of bringing the blight that destroys the valley's prized orchards, Jonathon must leave or be killed, and he follows his odd visions into the Red Mountains. Jonathon is a finely crafted and immensely sympathetic character who draws the reader into his adventures in self-discovery. The plot and underlying theme are effectively delivered through opposing forces that create a satisfying overall symmetry. The conflicts are clear: a young man's difference threatens a community that relies on conformity, the Brae family's open-minded intelligence battles the valley folks' narrow-minded ignorance, the agrarian valley people fear the nomadic mountain people and, in return, are held in disdain. In the end, opposites are carefully knit together through the legendary firegold apples. There are a few flaws. The illustrations are static and unnecessary, and Jonathon's relationship with his father experiences some abrupt changes; also, characters introduced later in the story are underdeveloped (perhaps signaling a sequel). However, these are minor concerns that are easily forgiven in Calhoun's otherwise rich and complex first novel for teens, which mixes fantasy, adventure, and coming-of-age. Holly Koelling --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

A heartfelt, emotionally trenchant coming-of-age adventure with a lightly mystical bent.Life would be wonderful for twelve-year-old Jonathon Brae if he weren't cursed with ``loony blues,'' azure eyes that cause the brown-eyed, orchard-growing Valley people to regard him with fear and suspicion. In this imaginative, internally cohesive fantasy, blue eyes can only mean two things: that the recipient will go mad, or worse, that he's a Dalriada, a society of barbarous folk who live high in the mountains and are rumored to have flaming horns and mysterious powers. Jonathon fears something more personalthat the brown-eyed stalwart he considers his father isn't really biological kin. Then Jonathon is accused of causing an outbreak of tree disease and learns that his recently murdered mother is part Dalriada. Heartbroken, he leaves the Valley and makes the perilous journey to Dalriada territory where he tests his manhood, reconciles the various aspects of his personality, and, in an unpredictable but plausible conclusion, finds out why he has blue eyes. This is Calhoun's first YA novel, and although it is overlong, with balky patches, she neatly joins the psychological and adventurous aspects of a boy's journey to adulthood with its more enigmatic side. (Fiction. 13-15) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Dia Calhoun spent years training to be a dancer before turning her hand to design and then to writing. Firegold was her first book, followed by Aria of the Sea. She lives in Tacoma, Washington.